Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that Israel’s attacks on Syria and Lebanon had reached a ​point where they also threaten Turkiye, adding Israel’s “aggression” posed a ‌threat to the whole world and must be stopped, Reuters reports.

“The attacks by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his network of ​murder on Lebanon and Syria have brought the issue to a point where ​it also threatens Turkiye,” Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament, and added that Ankara’s security was tied to that of these two countries.

Erdogan ​also said Israel was leading a “sneaky effort” to destabilise African countries and ​the Mediterranean by igniting “the fire of discord” on the ethnically-split island of Cyprus.

“These small entities, ‌whose ⁠ambitions far exceed their size, have boarded Israel’s boat of mischief, taken on the role of Zionist subcontractors, and are pursuing some pipe dreams in the Eastern Mediterranean,” he said, without elaborating.

“Nobody should chase adventures… I want ​everyone to know ​that if the ⁠rights of Turkiye and Turkish Cypriots are violated in the Eastern Mediterranean, our response will be very clear and ​very strong.”